ST. LOUIS -- Matt Holliday paused for a few seconds and thought hard about his first career RBI. He struggled to remember.

"I think it was [in St. Louis]," Holliday said. "I'm not sure exactly."

Holliday won't have any trouble remembering his latest milestone. A single back through the middle in the fifth inning of Monday's 6-2 win against the Mets drove in Jon Jay from second base, the 1,000th RBI of his 11-year career.

"As a kid, if you'd told me I'd have a chance to play in the Major Leagues, first of all, I'd have been thrilled," Holliday said. "To get a chance to play this long and get 1,000 RBIs in the Major Leagues is something special to me."

The crowd at Busch Stadium rose to its feet as Holliday stood on first base, and Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak stopped by his locker to shake his hand after the game.

The RBI was the 463rd for Holliday in a Cardinals uniform. Holliday drove in 483 with the Rockies and 54 with the A's. He is the 277th player in Major League history to reach 1,000 career RBIs. The next closest active player is the Mets' David Wright with 909.

"He's pretty stoic most of the time, but I mentioned something to him and he had a big smile," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. "He is a baseball fan. He loves the game. He realizes there are not a lot of people who have been able to reach a milestone like that. I think it took him back a little bit."

Back to that first RBI? That was April 18, 2004, at Busch Stadium II when he was with the Rockies.

Jenifer Langosch is a reporter for MLB.com. Read her blog, By Gosh, It's Langosch, and follow her on Twitter @LangoschMLB. Alex Halsted is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.